Ant’s egg cakes, a Tuyen Quang specialty. 

The main ingredient to make this cake is ant eggs - a kind of black ant with fatty and high protein eggs. After being washed, ant's eggs are stir-fried with a little minced pork.

What makes the ant’s egg cakes delicious is glutinous rice in the upland areas. High quality glutinous rice is soaked in water for two hours and then ground into a powder. The powder is kneaded into small balls and filled with a mixture of ant eggs.

Next, the dumplings are wrapped in fig leaves. The leaves are picked at just the right age to impart the dish with a special fragrance. Then, the dumplings are steamed for 30-45 minutes.

The unique dish is only available in in April and May because that is when black ants reproduce.